Stigma Stoller
Captain Stigma Stoller is a fictional character from Zoids: New Century. He is a member of the Backdraft Group and one of Bit Cloud's rivals. Overview Although Stoller's first name is "Stigma", every character in the series refers to him by his last name "Stoller", or some honorific regarding rank (e.g. Captain). Stoller was initially a highly-respected senior official in the Backdraft Group. He is bound by honor, as is his subordinate, Sanders, and eventually the pair defect from the Backdraft in order to participate in legitimate battles. Piloting the Elephander, he is one of the strongest warriors the Blitz Team ever face. He is involved with three battles against the Blitz team, the first as a commander to Sanders in an unsanctioned battle, which Sanders loses. The second battle he personally fights in the Elephander. During this battle, Stoller is presented with the opportunity to win, but he hesitated, giving Bit a chance to change his armour. Eventually this encounter is deemed a draw. The third and final battle Stoller fights in is a legitimate one-on-one battle against Bit. This fight is interrupted by the Backdraft, and is therefore inconclusive. As such, he is the only warrior never to be defeated by the Blitz team. At the conclusion of the series, Stoller, Sanders and Pierce are seen briefly together, each having defected from the Backdraft. They are not present in the Royal Cup. Stoller pilots three different Elephanders, firstly the original one used by the Backdraft. Later the Elephander is customised to wield an ESCS blade/shield in the trunk. Finally, he swaps the back-mounted turret for an Assault-Gatling unit midway through his final battle with the Liger Zero. Manga In the manga, Stoller appears very differently to that of the Anime. He still pilots the Elephander, but is not shown as an honest soldier. He managed to sabotage all of the Blitz Team's Zoids, except for the Liger Zero. It was even shown that he had tampered with the Zoid Core of the Elephander, giving it a 300% power boost. (although this boost could not be sustained, leading to his downfall). He appears in chapter 2, and fights against the Liger Zero Schneider. The battle is governed by a regular Judge. Sanders does not feature. Appearance Stigma Stoller is often seen wearing a dark purple outfit with black and red details. He has grey hair that is parted neatly from the right. Personality Despite being an official of the Backdraft, Stoller operates under a strict moral code, fighting legitimately and fairly in all the battles he participates in (as a pilot or otherwise). He generally does not display a great deal of expression, keeping his mood calm and collected at most times. Despite this, his decisions are influenced by his emotions, particularly his honor, and not only congratulates the Blitz team on their initial victory over the Elephander, but also asks for Bit's name when they finish a brief duel later on in the series. This strong sense of honor eventually takes him to the point of stealing the Elephander and a Whale King from the Backdraft in order to fight Bit in a sanctioned battle. Ability as a Zoid Pilot Stoller is shown to have extensive skill in close range combat and is able to best both the basic Zero and later the Zero Schneider in one-on-one combat. Despite this, he down-plays his own abilities, initially rejecting Sander's calls to have him personally pilot the Elephander, pointing out that he had retired and thus was not in his prime. Nonetheless, he is the only pilot never to be defeated by the Blitz team, and may have won on both occasions if not for outside interference in his two battles against Bit. In the game Zoids Legacy, Stoller appears much like he does in the show (although in his third encounter he pilots a Mad Thunder instead of the Elephander). His abilities are modelled towards heavy, high power Zoids. As an indication of his age, if a player trains up Stoller to a high level, his abilities become worse after a certain level. This is to model the fact that he is retired. This trait is shared with Krueger, another retiring Zoid pilot. Relationships Stoller has the following relationships with these people: Bit: Stoller treats him as a strong opponent, and they respect one another. Sanders: His subordinate; wherever Stoller is, Sanders is not far off. Sanders defected from the Backdraft along with Stoller. Sanders holds much respect for Stoller as a pilot, perhaps even more than Stoller holds for himself. This presents itself as a "master-apprentice" relationship, given that both men pilot the Elephander, but Stoller's unit is superior to Sanders'. Altile: Before he left, Stoller was Altile's subordinate. The two men seemed to butt heads at every turn, coming to a head when Stoller disobeyed a direct order to kill Bit Cloud. Zoids Legacy Database Entry :"S. Stigma. Back Draft's warrior. Comes out of retirement to do Zoids battles at Alteil's request and through his encounter with Bit." Trivia *Stoller's name is pronounced in episode 19 as "Stigma Stoller" by the Judge. However, he is almost universally referred to simply as "Stoller". In his profile on the New Century DVDs, his name is listed as "Stoller" (without "Stigma"), but Zoids: Legacy (quoted above) actually uses "Stoller" as his first name, and "Stigma" as his surname. *Stoller's English Voice Actor performs numerous other roles, such as the Zoid Battle Commission chairman, Major Polta, and Rastani from Zoids: Fuzors Sort Category:Zoids Anime Category:Zoids characters Category:New Century characters Category:Backdraft Group members